diff --git a/src/bin/initdb/initdb.c b/src/bin/initdb/initdb.c
index bac8385d39ff934ca213f6174c96db47440ef269..edd5d71eb821661e9730c5228c8c9bbbf4b211e8 100644
--- a/src/bin/initdb/initdb.c
+++ b/src/bin/initdb/initdb.c
@@ -2574,13 +2574,19 @@ check_authmethod_valid(const char *authmethod, const char **valid_methods, const
 }
 
 static void
-check_need_password(const char *authmethod)
+check_need_password(const char *authmethodlocal, const char *authmethodhost)
 {
-	if ((strcmp(authmethod, "md5") == 0 ||
-		 strcmp(authmethod, "password") == 0) &&
+	if ((strcmp(authmethodlocal, "md5") == 0 ||
+		 strcmp(authmethodlocal, "password") == 0) &&
+		(strcmp(authmethodhost, "md5") == 0 ||
+		 strcmp(authmethodhost, "password") == 0) &&
 		!(pwprompt || pwfilename))
 	{
-		fprintf(stderr, _("%s: must specify a password for the superuser to enable %s authentication\n"), progname, authmethod);
+		fprintf(stderr, _("%s: must specify a password for the superuser to enable %s authentication\n"), progname,
+				(strcmp(authmethodlocal, "md5") == 0 ||
+				 strcmp(authmethodlocal, "password") == 0)
+				? authmethodlocal
+				: authmethodhost);
 		exit(1);
 	}
 }
@@ -2792,8 +2798,7 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	check_authmethod_valid(authmethodlocal, auth_methods_local, "local");
 	check_authmethod_valid(authmethodhost, auth_methods_host, "host");
 
-	check_need_password(authmethodlocal);
-	check_need_password(authmethodhost);
+	check_need_password(authmethodlocal, authmethodhost);
 
 	if (strlen(pg_data) == 0)
 	{